Ecotourism in the Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas ... · Ecotourism in the Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, Mexico) ... Ecoturism the protected Areas of Mexico

Athens Journal of Tourism - Volume 1, Issue 3 – Pages 191-202

https://doi.org/10.30958/ajt.1-3-2 doi=10.30958/ajt.1-3-2

Ecotourism in the Reserva de la Biosfera

de Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, Mexico)

By Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión

Christoph Neger†

Ecotourism aims at protecting the natural environment while at the

same time bringing benefits to the local population. Therefore, it is

often used as a conservation strategy in protected areas all over the

world. However, the ways ecotourism is implemented vary greatly

not only between different regions, even within one region there can

be a large range of different approaches. The kind of strategy used

subsequently determines its success regarding ecotourism’s central

goals of environmental conservation and development. Almost three

decades ago, ecotourism was introduced to the area of the Los

Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Veracruz. This

was mainly driven by efforts of the public sector, which especially

promoted community-based ecotourism initiatives. On the other

hand, there have been several private attempts as well. Finally,

ecotourism companies in the region also tried to network among

each other – although to date with only little success. In this study,

the authors take a look at how ecotourism developed in the area

from its beginnings until now. This is carried out basically by in-

depth interviews with local actors involved in ecotourism as well as

by direct observation. The main purpose of this research is to

analyse and evaluate the steps in the region’s ecotourism

development and the different strategies used by the ecotourism

companies. Furthermore, the authors try to identify ecotourism’s

effects in the region on the whole.

Introduction

The first considerable effort to conservation in Mexico happened with the

declaration of the national park El Desierto de los Leones in 1917. According

to the Natural Protected Areas Commission by the end of 2013, the number of

protected natural areas under federal law had risen to a number of 176,

covering around 13% of the nation‟s territory. Among the various functions

assigned to this kind of protected areas there is the use for recreational

functions, ecotourism included.

In Mexico, ecotourism has been promoted in some protected areas during

the last decades in order to promote protection of nature and biodiversity as Professor, Autonomous University of Baja California, Mexico.

†Freelance Researcher, Graz Austria.

https://doi.org/10.30958/ajt.1-3-2

Vol. 1, No. 3 Díaz-Carrion et al.: Ecotourism in the Reserva de la Biosfera…

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well as to diversify the economy of rural areas with particular emphasis on

poverty reduction.

Using a qualitative methodology the introduction and development of

ecotourism in a protected area is revisited in order to analyse different

strategies to promote ecotourism and the role played by different agents in the

Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas, a natural protected area located in the

South of the Mexican State of Veracruz where private and community-based

ecotourism initiatives has been present since the last 3 decades.

This paper starts with giving a general background of ecotourism in

Mexican natural protected areas. Subsequently, the paper introduces the

Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas. After this, data derived in the fieldwork

and the review of academic literature are presented and the outcomes of

ecotourism in this protected area are discussed. Finally, the results are summed

up by a conclusion.

Ecoturism the protected Areas of Mexico

According to Melo (2002), the biosphere reserves, along with national

parks, are of special interest for the development of tourism activities.

Obviously, tourism development within a protected area should be consistent

with the principles of sustainable development and especially regardful of the

area‟s ecological integrity (Weaver 2006, pp. 19-20).

Among the types of tourism recommended for natural protected areas, one

particularly stands out: ecotourism. This activity is promoted in Mexico‟s

protected natural areas as a tool for environmental education and as a strategy

for diversification of the economic activities of the local population, thereby

lowering the pressure on traditionally used natural resources and trying to

eliminate poverty (Córdoba et al. 2004, p. 65). According to López &

Palomino (2008, pp. 39-42), in Mexico ecotourism emerges in the beginning of

the 21st century as a consequence of public policy addressing poverty as well

as conservation of natural resources.

Implementation of tourism activities in Mexico‟s natural protected areas

varies in intensity. While in some areas one can find characteristics of mass

tourism, contrasting the aims of protection, in other protected areas tourism has

been introduced to directly support conservation, not always with a successful

result (Brenner & San Germán, 2012, p. 137).

In some cases, large tour operators are promoting a conventional „sun,

sand and sea‟ product (Bringas & Ojeda, 2000), while on the other hand in

some areas tourism development is predominantly supported by small local

communities (López & Palomino, op. cit., p. 40). In 2006, a study analised

tourism development in 83 natural protected areas. They were catalogued into

categories, dependent on their state of development (incipient, planned,

predatory and managed) and the kind of management of tourism in the area

(explorative, preparative, reactive and proactive); the largest number of

protected areas showed a predatory tourism development and a reactive

Athens Journal of Tourism September 2014

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management, while in only 10% of the areas tourism was qualified as planned

with a preparative management (CONANP 2006a).

However, there are indeed efforts of several tourism agents to build

synergies in order to develop and promote conservation tourism. Among those

efforts the federal government has developed a national strategy for sustainable

development of tourism in natural protected areas (CONANPa, 2006b). This

strategy has been criticised by several tourism experts; however, it must be

recognised as an initial effort to control and properly develop tourism

(especially where tourism has already been present before the declaration of a

protection status). The role of universities and NGOs has been very important

in protected areas, these agents assisted the development of ecotourism in a

variety of ways, mainly in generating information necessary for decision

making and in observing the impacts of strategies on natural resources and

communities (Paré & Fuentes, 2007; Carmona et al., 2004).

The Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas (RBT)

Located in the South of the Mexican state of Veracruz (18° 34´-18° 36´ N,

95° 04´-95° 09´ W), with an extension of 155.122 ha. It was declared in 1998

in an effort to protect the remaining areas of tropical rainforest and cloud forest

surrounded by the coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico (CONANP, 2006) (see

Fig. 1). The region can be defined as a volcanic island, characterized mainly by

low hills; there are two outstanding volcanic massifs, San Martín and Santa

Marta, separated by low-lying land which contains two important water bodies,

the Catemaco Lake and the Sontecomapan Lagoon (Siemens, 2006). The RBT

lies at the northern limit of the range of tropical rainforest in the American

continent; therefore, the region contains a mix of species from the tropics as

well as from the temperate zone, which causes a high biodiversity (Ibarra et al.

1997).

Figure 1. Ecotourism projects in Los Tuxtlas (2014)


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Historically, the region had reached different types of protection during the

last 8 decades; during the last 30 years, these protection efforts intensified.

Unfortunately, only about 20 % of the original extent of tropical rainforest still

remains, the rest had mainly been converted into pasture, especially in the 2nd

half of the 20th century (Dirzo & García, 1992; Guevara et al., 2004).

Deforestation brings about a range of adverse effects, such as soil erosion,

reduction in the biodiversity and the loss of important ecosystem services of

the rainforest on a regional level such as water retention and protection against

inundations or even on the global level regarding capture of carbon dioxide

(CONANP, 2006a, pp. 16-17; 82-87). A further important threat to the area‟s

flora and fauna is poaching and illegal logging as well as contamination in the

ambit of human settlements. The less affected areas are the volcanic massifs,

which form the Reserve‟s core areas: San Martín, Santa Marta and San Martín

Pajapan.

In 2010 population within the boundaries of the biosphere reserve was

28.611 (own calculation based on INEGI [n.d.] and information given by the

directorate of the RBT).. Most of the inhabitants are mestizos although

indigenous people can be found, belonging to the ethnic groups of Nahua and

Popoluca, in the South of the RBT. The economy of the area is mainly based

on primary activities (íbidem). According to Paré & Fuentes (op. cit., p. 16)

there is a high degree of poverty among the area‟s population; moreover the

process of implementation of environmental conservation after the declaration

has been slow, while human pressure on the natural recourses is persisting.

Implementation of Ecotourism in the RBT

In the second half of the 1980s, the first pioneers in ecotourism appeared

in the area. They were agents from urban origin (from within the Los Tuxtlas

region or from the outside) who acquired land in a state of good conservation,

easily accessible from the regional urban centers, and created small enterprises

mainly offering services of guided walks as well as board and lodging.

The first private enterprise was Nanciyaga at the shore of Catemaco Lake

which, despite the foundation of many other enterprises, still remains to be by

far the economically most important ecotourism enterprise of the region, with

day visitor numbers of over 100.000 in some years and about 40 full-time

employees.

By the end of the 90s, then the first community-based ecotourism

initiatives formed. This process was kindled by persons from NGOs and the

academia, in rural communities interested in diversification of their sources of

income by implementing activities compatible with the conservation of the

remaining forests (Paré 2003, p. 274). The first one of them was Selva del

Marinero in the peripheral community of López Mateos at the outskirt area of

Sierra Santa Marta. While its economic success varied during the years, López

Mateos is still the community with the highest degree of community member


195

involvement. In 2012 about 40 of the 100 inhabitants of the community were

officially engaged in the project.

Figure 2. The Ecotourism Product in the RBT

Source: Own elaboration based on the fieldwork

With the declaration of the area as Biosphere Reserve, in 1998, ecotourism

in the area started to get institutionalized support. This policy had a strong


196

impact in the tourism at the RBT, fomenting existing community-based

initiatives and causing the foundation of new ones, all of them connected to at

least one of several public programs. The main focus of these programs was to

provide funding for the construction of touristic installations and capacity

building. In the South of the RBT, almost all projects have been funded by the

National Commission for the Development of Indigenous People (CDI), in the

period 1998-2001 (Díaz, 2012). Following the upsurge of community-based

ecotourism, during the last 7 years several small private enterprises started to

offer basic touristic services mainly or secondary related to ecotourism as well

(see Fig. 2).

During the last decade the ecotourism product has evolved from mostly

nature trails and board in poor conditions (in some cases the service was

provided with no proper installations) to a range of activities (Fig. 2) and the

development of improved installations. In some cases the level of training is

quite evident, for instance, some community-based enterprises have

experienced some specialization for the guiding. Due to capacity-building

programs as well as personal interest of the guides, some community-based

enterprises nowadays count with well-prepared and specialized guides, for

instance in the field of bird watching. Indeed, this does not apply for all the

enterprises, however, during our fieldwork it was confirmed that almost

everywhere the tourists receive at least some basic information about the

importance of conservation in the RBT.

By the time being the majority of the ecotourism enterprises are

concentrated in two areas, in the surroundings of Lake Catemaco and in the

Northern coastal area of Los Tuxtlas. Furthermore, some enterprises are

located in the indigenous areas in the South of the region and some close to the

border of the core zones in the foothills of the volcanoes San Martín and Santa

Marta. Within the core zone, nevertheless, no tourism installations can be

constructed, this protected area can only be used for low impact activities such

as hiking (CONANP 2006a, p. 138).

Private ecotourism enterprises are mainly connected with municipalities

through secondary roads and located between the corridors Catemaco-

Sontecomapan as well as along the coast. This location allows them to get an

important market share of ecotourism and excursionists. However, there is also

one private enterprise in a very peripheral location, the private protected area

La Otra Opción which opened its doors to tourism in 2011 is only reachable by

horse or quad-bike.

Most of the community-based enterprises are dispersed in the reserve,

some are located in the main corridor and few of them are isolated in

communities at the base of mountains. In the south of the RBT the pattern of

distribution is more irregular since the main criteria for the establishment of

ecotourism installation was more administrative and by considering in the first

place the presence of indigenous population in the locality. In this part of the

RBT ecotourism was also introduced as a government decision to principally

fight poverty and preserve natural resources in indigenous communities.


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Efforts of Working Together

Several authors point to the many potential benefits of cooperation of

tourism enterprises in a region (Paré & Lazos 2003, p. 204; Stradas 2000, p.

162; Wearing & Neil 1999, pp. 109-118). Synergy effects, for instance, could

be used in common efforts for nature conservation, in representing common

political interests as well as in forming a partnership for marketing, thereby

promoting the region as a whole with lots of different attractions instead of

only single enterprises.

The first and, to date, most important effort in this direction at the RBT

was the RECT (Network of Community-based Ecotourism of Los Tuxtlas), a

process which was initiated by the authority of the RBT in 2003. In the

beginning 8 projects took part, four private projects from communities at the

Northern coast of the Los Tuxtlas region and four community-based enterprises

in the municipality of Catemaco, amongst others the initiative of Selva del

Marinero which had been mentioned above.

The networked served as a platform for capacity building programs and at

the same time promoted a common marketing strategy, with an internet

website, folders, appearance in radio programs, attendance at tourism fairs and

even a selling point in Mexico City. Without doubt, a lot of the things done in

the RECT brought about considerable benefits for its participating enterprises.

However, in the end it seems as if the project had failed to be a sustainable

approach, since most enterprises left the network – some even after legal

disputes – only two of them still remain. The distrust created by the rupture of

the network is still present and constrains further attempts of networking.

Common criticisms of the RECT are that it focused too much on

standardisation, at the expense of the enterprises‟ individuality, and that it

made them overly dependent on an external advisor who managed the process.

In 2010 a new effort was undertaken to form an alliance of all ecotourism

initiatives present in the municipality of Catemaco which contains by far the

highest number of ecotourism enterprises among the municipalities which form

part of the RBT. The alliance started as a result of a workshop undertaken by

representatives from NGOs and the academia. In the beginning, more than 20

private and community-based initiatives took part. The biosphere reserve‟s

authority, deterred by the occurrences in the RECT, never participated actively

in this process. After two years already the alliance was abandoned, because of

lack of interest and incapacity of its members to define common goals. Its only

outcomes were a singular publication of a promotional magazine and the

participation in one fair. One obstacle for working together may lie in the

decision-making structure of the community-based initiatives. A representative

of an initiative cannot approve a common agreement with other enterprises

without before consulting all of the members of his own initiative, making the

process longer than usual.

Another alliance of only community-based initiatives is still working in the

South of the RBT. It is part of the national cooperation network RITA

(Network of Indigenous Alternative Tourism in Mexico) which started in 2002

with 32 indigenous community-based initiatives. By 2012 it had 160 initiatives


198

integrated in 11 regional networks; seven of the community-based initiatives

located in RBT were part of the southeast regional network. However, this

effort is primary aimed to commercialization and only secondary on product

development. South community-based initiatives in the RBT have had a more

difficult process with more confrontation among agents than those located in

the North.

The last network which operates in the RBT is COSTA, A.C., a network

that integrates both private and community-based initiatives related to

ecotourism along the Northern part of the coastline of Los Tuxtlas. The

network started as an individual effort by a non-local woman residing in one of

the communities, who invited all small enterprises of the area to develop

sustainable initiatives together. In this case, conflicts started due to money and

by 2010 the network was nearly inactive; however, due to individual efforts it

seems to have started functioning again by the beginning of 2012.

Constraints for the Projects’ Effectiveness

Ecotourism development in the RBT faces several restrictions, which

explain why beside Nanciyaga the number of people employed in private

initiatives has stayed low. In community-based initiatives ecotourism has, in all

cases, stayed an additional economic activity, the initiatives' members are still

engaged in other activities such as agriculture. Some of the most important

constraints are:

- Seasonality of tourism (Lein, 2011, p. 50), due to the region‟s

climatic conditions - the rainy season lasts from June to February,

especially from July to November precipitation can be heavy

(Soto, 2004, p. 195) – and due to the Mexican holiday times.

- Missing motivation and proactivity among the members of the

community-based initiatives (Lein, 2011, op. cit., p. 50;

interviews) and problems in organising an enterprise due to

generally low levels of education; missing knowledge of English

and other languages constraints the ability to receive international

tourists.

- Problems with accessibility, most roads in the region are missing

maintenance.

- In some cases the emergence of ecotourism creates conflicts

within the local community, between those who want to develop

this touristic activity and therefore protect the natural resources

and those who want to continue with activities such as logging

and hunting (cp. Tauro (2009) who describes the development in

the community of Ruiz Cortines near the core zone in the north of

the RBT).

- Missing cooperation among those involved in the planning and

development of ecotourism (Neger 2013).

- The ecotourism product is not well structured, and the selling

process is deficient especially among community-based initiatives


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whose efforts are limited in several ways (e.g. most community-

based initiatives do not have an internet access).

- Support by governmental institutions is often short-lived, there is

little continuity and coordination between different public

institutions is in need of improvement. Los Tuxtlas misses a

comprehensive, long-term strategy for ecotourism development

(Neger 2013).

In the last years, tourism even decreased in community-based initiatives;

private initiatives showed a strong decrease as well. Owners of some private

enterprises recently seem to be losing interest in ecotourism and try to find

other sources of economic income or sell their enterprise.

There are different reasons that could explain this situation. Troubles

started in May 2009 when influenza A(H1N1) was first reported in Mexico; for

some community-based initiatives May is the month when college ecotourists

from Mexico City arrive; one of the community-based initiatives expected two

groups of about 100 ecotourists, a second one was expecting a group of 50

ecotourists, but all groups cancelled due to the influenza-crisis.

Floods were another event during 2009 and 2010 that contributed the drop

of ecotourists; according to several managers and members of ecotourism

initiatives interviewed even though floods were not a general problem in most

of the RBT, tourists from Mexico City associated incorrectly the situation of

other municipalities from Tabasco with Veracruz and that match contributed to

the decrease of arrivals during the months that followed spring of 2009.

Another reason for the decrease of arrivals can be found in the region‟s

decreased security, due to violence related to drug trafficking and other illegal

activities. According to the people interviewed by the authors, this violence

never affected any tourists directly; however, negative coverage in the media

deters many potential visitors from coming (Neger, 2013, op. cit.).

New reforms proposed in 2013 by the federal government were followed

by large conflicts, especially with teacher unions who in fall of the same year

undertook protest actions like temporarily closing roads. This seems to have

frightened off many visitors, ecotourism enterprises reported that several

already booked tours had been cancelled. To make matters worse, at the same

time in Catemaco some communities where ecotourism projects are located

were almost inaccessible for several weeks due to flooding of the access road.

Benefits of Ecotourism in the Region

Regardless those limitations, ecotourism is considered as an activity that

generates positive effects. According to our interviews ecotourism enterprises

have been very good allies in the conservation process engaging in

environmental education and reforestation (Andrade, RBT Personnel &

Hernández, PROFEPA). This idea of secondary support for conservation

through ecotourism in the region is also affirmed by other local stakeholders:

“…ecotourism does not directly contribute to conservation, but it has the


200

positive effect that people try to earn their income from ecotourism and not

from poaching and logging” (Swanson, NGO).

The potential of ecotourism is evident in the RBT not only between

official agents: “Ecotourism helps a lot in awareness raising among

population” (Hernández, PROFEPA), but also among ecotourism initiatives:

“For me… this little space of rainforest is alive due to the owner who bought

some land and instead of cutting the trees bet high for conservation through

ecotourism” (Pedraza, initiative manager) and for ecotourists: “…people of

community-based initiatives played an important role in communicating the

importance of conservation among the community as well as the visitors”

(Mendez, ecotourist). A survey undertaken by García (2010) in two of the

region‟s community-based enterprises underlined this positive effect on the

visitors‟ ecological awareness.

In fact, environmental impacts vary largely between enterprises. One

important contribution by some of the projects is to protect a certain space of

land as a private or communitarian protected area. This guarantees a much

higher degree of conservation than simply being located within the Los Tuxtlas

Biosphere Reserve, which is often ignored by land owners and local

authorities. The largest protected area of this kind is the communitarian reserve

of López Mateos, where the initiative Selva del Marinero is located, with 120

ha. This land is part of the common land of the Ejido community and was

declared officially as an ecological easement.

Some enterprises have undertaken efforts in reforestation, especially the

private initiatives, for instance, La Otra Opción and Rancho Los Amigos each

claim to have reforested about 60 ha. However, this reforestation was mainly

financed by private money and public funds, especially in the case of La Otra

Opción there had been no direct contribution by ecotourism, since touristic

activity still hasn‟t developed in this remote place as a considerable source of

economic income (Neger, 2013).

Other positive activities include environmental education for schools from

within the region and cooperation with the Mexican Environmental Protection

Agency (PROFEPA). Members of community-based ecotourism enterprises,

for instance, participate actively in PROFEPA‟s voluntary community

committees for supervision of environmental crimes. Some initiatives – like

Nanciyaga, Selva del Marinero or La Otra Opción - also receive animals which

had been confiscated from illegal traffickers.

Conclusion

Ecotourism at RBT has been implemented following different strategies,

either private or community-based ecotourism enterprises developed

ecotourism activities ranging from general to, sometimes, specialized services.

Regardless the importance of private and NGO‟s funding, the role played by

governmental funds in the implementation and development of ecotourism is


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evident not only in the case of community-based initiatives but also in the

private ones.

Some cooperation efforts have been organized among different ecotourism

agents, however, they did not succeed in order to bring about considerable

promotion or a long-term strategy for the development of the activity.

Enterprises work isolated making success far more difficult for

community-based initiatives, especially for those facing accessibility

limitations and who feels disappointed with the lack of visitors and the

restrictions of conservation and the economic restrictions of the region.

Outstanding positive results are efforts of reforestation and conservation;

for one private enterprises ecotourism has been very productive economically.

Ecotourism at the RBT has not solved economic diversification problems

nor assured conservation issues faced in the region; the benefits are punctual

and always under negotiation. In order to promote ecotourism, tourism agents

should cooperate among themselves to create a long-term planning and to

manage a trademark to sell to the national and international market taking

advantage of the geographical location of the region and improving dynamic

factors related to the ecotourism product. Governmental agencies, especially

CONANP which manages the RBT, are urged to resume their initial support to

the region‟s ecotourism and provide leadership for its further process of

development.

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